Three weekends ago I was involved in meetings with provincial union delegates at the Westin Bear Mountain Hotel in Langford during the 2012 Fiscal Annual General Meeting. We thoroughly discussed the current state of rugby in each of the provinces and the communicative strengths and weaknesses that each union was facing. One of the important questions that continued to arise was: “How do we connect with and grow our rugby following across our province?” I’m here to offer a helping hand to that problem. Over the last few years we’ve seen a change in the way our society communicates, as more and more people are beginning to use social media outlets as a means to connect with one another. In a large part due to smart phones, tablets and laptops, social media has become a source of mainstream media in Canada. Social media is a proven tool for directing online traffic to websites, promoting upcoming games and events and encouraging new followers and sponsors through a fun and exciting medium. Rugby is a growing sport in Canada, and it would benefit each of the provinces to boost their online presence through Facebook and Twitter for a multitude of reasons:Social Media Benefits for Provincial Unions/Rugby Clubs: -Connect with current and potential fans, supporters, players and sponsors in your province and club -Promote and connect with rugby clubs that are currently using social media -Provide game scores and updates -Provide video and photographic highlights -Organize events including games, practices, team functions, fundraisers, tournaments etc. -Reach out to a younger generation of rugby players and supporters -Educate the public about the sport of rugby in Canada -Keep up to date with current events -Help draw online traffic to selected websites -Work alongside Rugby Canada’s social media pages to promote the national men’s and women’s sevens, fifteens and age-grade events on the domestic and international stage Therefore, I pose a challenge: The “Rugby Canada – Provincial Unions Social Media Challenge” will be a competition from April 29th – May 25th between Canada’s 10 provinces to grow and strengthen their social media following on Facebook and Twitter. I have recorded each of the provinces’